Nine people were killed and more than 20 injured Sunday morning when a tour bus crashed through a guardrail on a highway in Pendleton, Ore., falling down an embankment, according to the Associated Press.

The bus, with about 40 passengers, was on an icy and snow-covered Interstate 84 at 10:30 a.m. when the accident happened. The driver lost control, and the bus fell several hundred feet down a steep hill.

That stretch of the highway, called Deadman’s Pass, is known for being treacherous, with what the state Transportation Department called “the most changeable” and “severe weather conditions in the Northwest,” according to AP.

Rescuers had to use rope to get down to the accident victims.

The bus is owned by Mi Joo Tour & Travel of Vancouver, and state police said it was traveling from Las Vegas back to Vancouver, AP reported.

Aileen Martinez, 33, of the Bronx had agreed to close up the Tom Ford makeup counter for a co-worker, and left the upscale store about 8 p.m. She was walking across Seventh Avenue at West 59th Street in pouring rain when she was hit by a Staten Island Express bus, the Post reported.

The bus driver, who didn’t have any passengers, had made a left onto Seventh Avenue when he struck Martinez, according to the Post. He stayed at the scene of the accident and wasn’t charged with anything relating to the accident.

The MTA was probing whether Martinez was jaywalking when she was hit and whether the bad weather contributed to the fatal accident, the Post reported.

The accident involving a bus from Palombi Middle School in Lake Villa took place on I-94 near Deerfield Road at about 9:30 a.m., and two adults and 20 students were taken to five local hospitals, the newspaper reported.

The bus was struck when two trucks behind it hit each other, and then one of them hit the bus. The bus was one of nine buses transporting students to Allstate Arena in Rosemont for a Chicago Wolves games, according to the Daily Herald.

The driver, who wasn’t identified, lost control of the bus around 7 p.m., hitting an exit sign near Broadway, the Chronicle reported. He was alone in the bus when the accident took place.

Officials were at the scene investigating why the driver lost control of the bus, since no other vehicle appeared to be involved.

Patrons at a nearby restaurant ran to the bus when they heard the crash, and when they found the driver he was dead. One of those patrons told the Chronicle that he suspected the bus driver has suffered a heart attack.

A bus driver who was behind the wheel during a ghastly accident in the Bronx that killed 15 passengers, and ripped the arms off another man, was acquitted of manslaughter and negligent homicide charges Friday, The New York Times reported.

The case had been seen as possibly setting a precedent for prosecuting motorists who drive when they are too tired, amounting to criminal behavior. Such was not the case.

The defendant, 41-year-old Ophadell Williams, had been accused by the prosecution of being so tired when he was driving as if he were drunk, and that this conduct rose to the criminal level of manslaughter and homicide. Obviously the jury didn’t agree, as it only convicted Williams of one misdemeanor charge for unpaid tickets, The Times reported.

Williams was driving a bus that was returning to Chinatown in Manhattan from the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut when he struck a guardrail on Interstate 95 in the Bronx. The top of the bus was sheared off, killing the 15 and injuring many others, including a passenger who lost his arms when he tried to protect his face.

The jury deliberated five days after sitting through a trial that began in September, according to The Times.

Williams, who didn’t testify, isn’t off the hook. He is being sued by several passengers who lived through the crash, and the survivors of some who didn’t.

The lawyer for the passenger who lost both his arms told The Times, “Running a bus off a highway might not be a crime, but it’s certainly negligence.”

The accident happened when the driver of the bus, which was transporting 32 members of a church group, got lost at the airport, AP reported. The bus struck the 8-foot-6-inch entrance to the arrival area, instead of going to the departure area, where clearance was higher, AP said.

One passenger died at the scene and another died at a local hospital. Three people had serious injuries and were hospitalized.

The group on the bus were Jehovah’s Witnesses from Sweetwater who were traveling to a convention in West Palm Beach, according to AP. The bus was owned by Miami Bus Service Corp.

There are several warning signs at the airport telling drivers in big vehicles not to go beneath the low concrete overpass, AP reported. One says “High Vehicle STOP Turn Left.” The second one says vehicles higher than 8-foot-6 have to turn left.

AP said that the bus driver was being interviewed by authorities, and it wasn’t known if charges would be filed against him.

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